Stair cover



Feb. 17, 1948. J, C ARK 2,436,139

STAIR COVER Filgd April 6, 1946 'wPm" [NVEN TOR. 7/4 MES CA A 26% A froze/v06 Patented Feb. 17, 1948 STAIR COVER.

James Clark, Akron, Ohio, assignor of one third to Donald Gottwald, Akron, Ohio Application April 6, 1946, SerialNo. 660.059"

such planes although the angles thus'define'd be.

of 90 or less. Mats of construction and design materially ,difierent from mine have been widely used for thepurpo'seof covering stairs but, unlike my mats, have never been 'entirely'satisfactory, to my kncwledge. Mats oi. unitary construction have been most easily manufactured and apparently most desirable to use since they have long been generally employed and are presently probably the most important type commercially. There are, two lvarieties of these, namely, the homogeneous and non-homogeneous.

, The former type has been used to some extent but because of its tendency to buckle and the difficulty in conforming this, type to the sharp angles and to the various" plane surfaces encountered in usual stair constructions'because of the difiiculty of causing such mats to hug stairs for protracted periods and because of their lim ited durability and wear resistance, especially in the portion overlaying the stair bead, they have come into only limited use. The non-homogeneous mats characterized by those of composite construction, such as rubber-canvas in whicli'the bead engaging-and overlying portion is of canvas and the riser andtread engaging portions are of rubber and canvas, have been more generally employed because of the relative ease with which that may be permanently attached to stairs and the freedom from the tendency to buckle and pull away from the stair comers,

edges or surfaces. These mats, however, have .left much to be desired in that the bead cover- ;ing portion, and especially the portion overlying the external corner or edge of the stair, has very limited durability, being of canvas construction. Full use of the tread or riser covering portions of these mats is rarely realized and frequent replacement is required. The desirability of extending the life of these mats is thus obvious as is the hitherto apparent impossibility of so doing.

The mat of my invention exhibits no tendency toward failure in any portion before the full effective use of the tread overlying portion is substantially realized. Neither does my mat tend to buckle when secured to a stair nor to pull away 2 claims. (or. 20419) from engagement, with the various surfaces, edges and corners of the stair, as aforementioned. Moreover, because of its construction and design, it tends actually to adhere to the contour of thestair, especially in the under portion offthe ledgeoroverhang of the stair which is usually the most diificult portion to which to attach- Referring to the drawings accompanying and forming a part of. the invention: 7 Figure l is a prospective view of one form of mat of this invention attached to a stair; a Figure 2 isa plan view of the mat of Fig. 1; FigureB is a side view in elevation of the mat of la-1; a d e .Figure 4 is a side elevation of the intermediate or bead engaging portion of the mat taken on line 5-4 of Fig. 2.1

' The illustrated mat M of my invention is a ,comparatively thin rectangular rubber sheet hav.. ing greater width than length and comprising surface 1 bordering said ribbed section.

End portion 2 is similarly provided with a substantially monoplanar under surface 8, an upper surface 9 having a ribbed section It! and a subtion of the mat, which is subject to less wear than the tread portion but suffers substantial wear nevertheless. Also, the ribs in the surface of this portion preserve the appearance of the mat, being less readily noticeably marked by wearing or scuffing contacts. 4

Intermediate portion 3 is the bead engaging portion of the mat, as illustrated in Fig. 1, where it is shown attached to and overlying the bead 18 defined by the riser R and tread T of the stair. This element of the mat comprises the portion between the two end portions and includes the relatively thin portion I! of the mat and the adjacent portions extending to the borders of the end portions l and: of the mat. This intermediate portion has a substantially monoplanar under surface l3 which is engaged with the bead This mat of my invention is suitably attached as shown in Fig. l, and a smooth unribbed upper to a stair or the like with rubber cement or an surface [4 interrupted only by relatively thin or equivalent adhesive substance, or with nails, indented portion l2. Indented portion H, as staples or the like, especially if it is of composite illustrated, extends the full width of the mat, 5 construction, as aforementioned, and therefore is very narrow, of rectangular shape and, comespecially suitable for use with such latter separed to the end portions of the mat, of a very curing means. small surface area. Actually, in the illustrated Having thus described the present invention mat which--is designed for usewith-astai-r of so that-those skilled in-the: art may beable to standard dimensions, the width of indented porm understand and practice' the same I state that tion [2 approximates inch, while its thickness, my invention is defined in what is claimed.

approximates three quarters of the mat thick;-

What is claimed is: ness, which is about inch, and its length equals I l. A molded rubber stair mat comprising a the mat width, i. e., about eighteen inches. portion for lying flat on a horizontal stair tread,

In the assembly of Fig. 1-theindentedportion a ,portion 'for lying flat against a vertical stair of the mat is engaged throughitslunderjs'iirf e Qri'ser;-- a' riq;l$ a portion between saidtread and 13 with the inside corner defined by the top of riser engaging portions to lie close to the front riser R and the opposed portion ofithe stair bead edg'e anmunderside of said tread and having a B. The tendency in this assembly is for sthe ade groove-in its outer surface along which the mat jacent riser and bead covering portions of the may bend to fit into the angular space at the mat to hug, as intended, the stair rather than to intersection of the tread and riser, said riser pull" away or buckle as dothe stair malts oi--the 'pombnb mg 'longt'enoug'h" to wedge between jafilthei risercovermg portion qong nqflgh adjacent stair treadswhereby the mat may The toiwedge between the stair treads adjacent above positioned-and maintained in snug engagement aiidbelow' the riseryas showninfFig. 3. 'ltwill with theriserandbead'of the stair. :beappreciated'that the forces deve'loped'due to "2 jI-n-a'stairway including apluralityofstairs 'thedepression in the surface of the fm tat the eomprisin gfista'ir treads. and risers between the b t p t account'for much of the advance t reads,ia"plurality bfstair mats defining a conan tage of this mat over the mats'oi the tinuons eoveringfor the" stairway; said mats each p io t- It i l i wis pr so beingj o'fmolded rubber material and fabric comwhile my mat isthus' s apedlw this th ijp position and -comprisi'nga tread portion covert'ionfit' is not'notifceably less strong in use than ling andngaging a'stair tread, a. riseriportion other mats sincethisreduction in its-thickness eo erm a. stair riser, and a bbad 'portion'be has been efiectedf portioniof t mat'which tween 'said "tread'eridl riser portions. and having ishot SII J'B V the; extent 0f ear service ,35- ajgroovefin its outer. surface along which said that t e o on of t 's pqiti nrmay beri'd ito engage ,theundersurface I have," J a-C fdufid .t tid spite t e existence tr ISitid "treadandto fitinto' theiangular space "of this rela iv ly thinner sectioni'my 'r i f'm't along'theintersection,of the bead and riser, said i e u y as st on a d fie ea ca e o iijser q nonibem long'enough to wedge beendurin repeat d stret n a d n ns' n rtween"adjacentitreads"whereby the mat maybe vjations'without fatigue as any previously known m'ajmp m dfm' nu f n e m t th se rubber mats. Q g end'teafabfthez ts r.

The illustrated form of mat of 'my'jinvention I g JAMESCLARK is composed of natural rubber whiclih'as'been Y treated in the customary mannertd'vulc'anize it P *IrnFiiRENoEs -oITEn and .render'it suitable'for uses "demanding t'cughi ness and' wear resistant characteristics. It is to beunderstood, however, that i this'fmat maybe The toll owing: references are of record inthe fileaofsthis patent:

"composed of, other elastomerioorfrubber lilre UNITE!T S'F-AIES' P-Zs'fl-EN'IS materials such as the so-called synthetic rub- Y g m ii fi difip 3%??49. san fin; .Jan fit in ent varieties'of rubber or'rulbber-like materials. 2 3 71 Phillips Furthermore, it is to beuriderstood thatfthis 13:35:08; Hyman I; r July 5 1927 mat r my' invention may 'bea'composite article *I 2 Frazier f *f "O 2211929 consisting of oneior more of theaforementioned jifg jq V lK ji::::::::::: Ap 1 193-1 rubber-like materials and a fabric'netwoi'kor several independent or interlockingiabrio layers. 3(FOREIGN1TAI1JN TS "Preferablyihowever,the" article isn'otcomposite, Number ,Co'untry iD'ate. but' is as shown since inthlat form it exhibits 7 129545 "argt pmgm ,,Ju1y 17 19 19 .the most desirable strength and wear properties a g iand is g.enerally"'most; readily and inexpensively ,ihanufactured'andfappliedT-orusd; v 

